Medic!
by RabidYaoiFanboy
Summary: Sephiroth and Zack come across a stranded field medic in a wutaian swamp. What follows can only be called Romance. SxZxC warning:female problems abound. ON HOLD UNTIL PLOT BUNNY REVIVES
1. Chapter 1

Sephiroth looked over the vacant field, smoldering fires still burning in pits. The boggy peat smelled awful, and Zack pinched his nose in distaste. Maybe three clicks east there was a battle line, but this place…was desolation.

"Fuckin' ninja's got their hands on something big…tank by the looks of it." Zack said, looking at the ground. His commader nodded absently, kicking over a burned out plank.

"I do not think anyone survived. Let us go." He said, green eyes scanning the ruins. "Let these men rest in peace." It was the most funeral they would get, he was sad to say.

They were tromping back to their chocobos when it happened. Zack had watched the general pause, and then his eyes went wide. Zack heard it then, and instantly identified it.

"Seeker!" he hissed, and they took off, missile in hot pursuit. They ran for almost four minutes, dodging the thing, before both were taken down by a rope strung between two trees.

Zack expected the worst, until a grimy form leapt from the tree, flinging a hastily lit flare upwards. The Seeker ended up as so much shrapnel, and the trooper landed hard and rolled, coming up armed.

"who the fuck are you?" Zack asked, looking at the wary boy. He grabbed his helmet, flinging it off. Zack was struck by the sight of blond spikes smeared in blood and glowing blue eyes.

"Generals Sir!" he said, startled. He must not have been able to see them with the helmet. And he saw why…his blue eyes glowed.

"At Ease, Soldier. What is your name?" Sephiroth asked in his commander voice, and the boy dropped to an easy rest.

"Sergeant Cloud Strife. Field medic for the thirty second, sir." He said, voice weary and boyish. He couldn't have been older than sixteen…Zack wanted to hug him.

"What happened here?" he asked instead, and the blond shook his head.

"Kamikaze, sir…hit us about four days ago. Wiped out my MASH unit and the unit attatched to us sir." He reported, pulling a pack from the tree. He whirled then, rifle firing a report as a swamp covered man rose, springing at him.

"The swamps full of enemy units, sir. I've been on the move towards base camp." He said, shouldering the pack and rooting through the dead mans pockets. He came out with a set of dog tags and a potion.

Then Zack saw the blonde's wrist when he unwrapped his scarf. Dozens of dog tags were wrapped on their chains, and the boy added this one too.

"Wow…" Zack watched as the blond rewrapped the scarf tightly.

"They deserve a funeral too. Since I got no time for grave diggin' this'll have to do." Clouds voice was tired as he spoke. Sephiroth nodded.

"You say you're a Field medic…." He said, and Cloud nodded, leading a slime covered swamp chocobo out of the underbrush.

"Yeah, been here since…three years ago." Cloud said, and he looked at the men. "Permission to join company, sirs!" he said formally, and Sephiroth nodded. The boy had saved their hides after all.

The two Soldiers only turned, heading back for their birds. The blond followed behind, watching the rear. He seemed far too wary for a simple swamp, and now in the company of the generals.

Sephiroth decided he'd find out what was bothering the boy when they got back to camp.

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Back at base camp, Cloud was bathed, given a fresh set of too-big fatigues, and ushered into the generals building. He still held onto his side pack, now carrying the dog tags.

"Tell me, Sergeant Strife, why you were back there and survived, if everyone else was dead." He said softly, and cloud sighed.

"I…I made as many of them comfortable as I could, sir. But…the Fever took quick. My body's resistant to shit like that, 'count of the Mako in me, but the others…weren't so lucky. I managed to quarantine the chocobo, and washed both of us in alcohol once I left the place." He said, and the general nodded, motioning for him to sit.

"You say Fever….what symptoms?" he asked, and Cloud recited the list, as if he'd gone over it a million times before.

"Body temperature exceeding 108 Degrees, shaking, vomiting, inability to consume fluids. Green veins three hours prior to death." He said, reaching into his bag. A battered notebook was brought out, and the General looked it over. The boy had documented well…

"Bioweapon?" he asked, and cloud shook his head.

"no…swamp maybe. It was infection, not germs, I know that much." He said, and Sephiroth nodded.

"Dismissed. Eat and rest, Soldier." He said, and cloud balked.

"I'm only a Medic, sir…not a Soldier." He said, and Sephiroth smirked.

"consider this a field promotion. I saw you with that sword earlier. See Zack. You've just become the First Class medical Specialist." He said, signing a file and handing it over. Cloud just gaped as he was led from the tent.

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YAY!!! Another project eating mah brain. This is what happened…

I was reading a fic where Cloud was in the war. Mash was on. Add my own brand of dramatics, and you get this piece of shit.

R&R and I love you all forever!!!


	2. Chapter 2

Medic!

Sephiroth looked darkly down on the file in front of him. He'd had it shipped, along with his latest batch of paperwork. The papers within were quite…telling.

He wasn't sixteen, for all his stature and voice said he was. He was actually twenty-one. And his natural mako count was twice that of a regular trooper. Sephiroth read the glowing recommendations in it from his academy teachers, and frowned at the bad ones. He seemed to be unwilling to hurt others in any way, and refused to let anyone touch him.

He was a skilled medic though. Four successful field operations using only a sword and materia to remove shrapnel. Five mastered Cure materia. And a distinct skill with kids that were recovered from villages rounded him out as the best field medic in south Wutai. He was no doctor, but he'd learned in time to be just as good.

It troubled him that a man, who he knew was dependable to a fault, wouldn't let others touch him. He obviously laid hands on people to heal them, but never had any records of being in the locker rooms with anyone else. That was troubling…and his medical records were all in order. Too ordered.

Medical personnel had aces to any and all records. And Cloud was from Nibelheim…a very small town. He was likely uncomfortable with large numbers of people, considering that his entire town consisted of maybe seventy people, native and workers. That also explained his mako levels. People from Nibelheim either had a mako resistance or were unusually accepting of it as a part of them. And Sephiroth knew that the latter applied to Cloud.

So what was this young man hiding? He got along with Zack, which wasn't hard he admitted, but Zack had taken a rather unusual fondness to him. He was slowly teaching him sword work in exchange for getting his materia leveled up, and the blond was often seen dealing with lesser creatures spawned by the Wutaian mountains with various fire and thunder materia.

Overall he was a perfect soldier. And…that troubled him. No man was a perfect Soldier…and he knew that Zack knew that too. Zack knew better than anyone that no man is perfect.

So he had some research to do. The silver haired mans face spread into a grin as he closed the perfect file, planning his strategy.

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"Again." Zacks strong tenor barked out as Cloud moved through his kata. The blond dropped to a fighting stance, before lunging at the brunette. Zack grinned as wooden swords crashed, then jumped as a swift kick headed for his face. That was new… "taking lessons from Red and Baldy, huh?" he teased as Cloud swiped at him. The blond grinned back, covered in sweat and grunting as he lunged.

"you're just jealous that Reno's a better drinker than you…" he muttered, vaulting over Zacks head with a throw. He used the force to land on his feet and bring Zack down over his head. "and yeah. Rude's been showing me some stuff."

"Very good." Zack praised as Cloud was pinned. Zack groaned yet again as he stood up from the blond, wishing that he was legal. "fuck, spiky, think you bruised something that time." he muttered, grinning as the blond swiped at his fatigues backside, knocking off packed leaves.

"don't suppose we could head for the mess now could we? 's been like, hours since I've eaten." Cloud said, shaking out his spiky hair. Several twigs nearly hit Zack as he smirked at the blond. Clouds apetite was well on it's way to being a legend by now. He could pack it away like a First Class no problem.

"'Kay." And Zack led the way. The mess tent was a rather odd patchwork thing, made of several other, older tents. On a few panels the Shinra logo could be seen, from earlier campaigns. Zack wouldn't tell anyone else but he loved the crazy look on the tent.

Shouts of 'Zack!' and "hey, commander Fair' followed them as they sort of stumbled through the camp. Cloud got nuggied heavily, but he always shrugged the guys off with a laugh and a grin. It seemed his special charm and position as Zacks friend landed him in everyone's good graces.

The mess was full for dinner, and it was a pleasant meal. and all the while Zack wondered what was bothering his friend.

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It was very late. Sephiroth could feel the night shift around him as he watched the med tent. For five nights now Cloud had slipped out, silent and creeping. Tonight the general would find out where he always went.

The blond walked through the tall trees to the river, and Sephiroth watched his lithe form kneel, the sleeping robe he wore slipping off his shoulders gracefully. So Cloud came here to bathe then…why?

Then Sephiroth saw the white cloth binding the blonds torso. An injury? The boy sighed in what seemed to be relief as he unbound it, letting it fall to the stone beside him. And then he turned, and Sephiroth gasped.

Cloud Strife was no boy. Soft, rounded breasts shined in the moonlight as blond fuzz led to a very female piece of anatomy. He swiftly turned, a blush on his face even as Cloud bent to pick up her towel. The blond slipped into the water, cleaning herself swiftly and exiting the river in less than five minutes. Sephiroth watched her bind again, and sighed.

She was…beautiful. He'd thought so when he thought she was a male, now he knew…and he smiled.

Maybe this warrior woman who fought so hard to hide would let him see just a little more of who she was.

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Okay, since I had totally lost my entire train of thought for this one….I ended up with this! Yay! And I know some of you don't like het….but I honestly don't mind it. And there will be lots of yummy yaoi lovin' too….Zack needs his general after all.

Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! You guys picked up on Zacks idiocy fast! ^^ and yes, Cloud is twenty-one in this fic. It's AU for a reasn. Even I wouldn't put a thirteen year old into a military academy like that!

Loves to you all. Leave more yes?


	3. Chapter 3

Zack Fair was a perceptive bastard. He had the art of reading people down to a science, and the science of dealing with all types of people down to an art. He knew when someone *coughsephirothcough* was hiding something, he knew when Kunsel hooked up with Jhonson from fourth company, and he was right there when Kyle reported in in as a daddy.

But for the life of him, he could not figure out Cloud Strife. The boy was such an enigma, happy as a clam one moment, and ready to murder someone the next. A wrong touch would fire him up, and someone would end up ass-kicked. Oh, he knew that cloud knew that he knew he was hiding something, and was very good at redirecting his attention.

Cloud was cute. It was a camp not-secret that he was the hottest piece of ass to come in since Major Niven, from Corell. And since his field promotion to Third four months ago, he'd been keeping up hard with both his combat training and his medical duties. The kid had sort of become the camp 'mommy' with a whole bunch of small injuries taken to him for treatment over flirting. But if one hand strayed a little too far south…

It drove Zack nuts to think of all the men who hit on his little Cloudy. And it drove the General even more nuts that the small blond wouldn't stop damaging random fingers for inappropriate touches. Granted, a Cure from another medic usually fixed it, but Cloud was sometimes a little more vicious than necessary. And Zack wanted to know what the FUCK he was hiding.

It wasn't until a month or so later, when he was patrolling with Cloud, that he found out. And it was a rather unusual way, too. It still made Zack laugh heartily at the thought.

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Cloud had been in a bad mood all morning. It had gotten to the point where Cloud had point blank told the guys who flirted that he was Not talking to them. And after that spectacular blowup in the mess hall, Zack was also being wary of the small blond. It wasn't every day that someone went flying after all.

Master Sergeant Mortimer Howard, decorated soldier and commander of a small company, was laughing with his friends as they headed for the mess line. He was lucky enough to land himself the coveted spot behind Cloud Strife. He had been after the blond for a few months now.

Cloud was fuming. That morning Reno had nearly let slip her secret, but he had covered. It was still enough to make her want to take all his pretty fucking red hair and chop it off. Now though he grabbed his tray, grumbling.

Then the hand reached out, and fondled. No, not just fondled, full on groped her ass. Without even thinking she had spun around the tray smacking into Howard's head as she snarled. The man went down like a sack of potatoes and his foot smacked his jaw.

"touch me again like that, any one of you, and I make sure your kids don't have any more siblings." she hissed, and the people around her backed up three steps. She dropped the dented tray on the man, stepping out of line.

Only a single pair of clapping hands split the stillness as she stormed for the exit. General Sephiroth applauded the young woman, as she grabbed her sword from the rack beside the tent.

She had something to go kill.

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Zack found him later, standing over the decimated body of a random monster, panting heavily, Materia arm bracer glowing with two mastered materia. The brunette approached him slowly, a doggy bag in hand.

"Hey, Spike. Heard you skipped lunch." he said evenly, and Cloud turned to him. Bright blue eyes locked onto his hand, following the food. His appetite was flaring at him, and Zack grinned as he tossed it over, the blond reaching into the bag.

"Zack, you're a godsend." he said, sighing as he tore into the sandwich. Zack grinned. Then he noticed his pants.

"hey, spiky, you get hurt?" he asked, and Cloud looked down. The last bite of sandwich went flying as he squawked, looking down.

"Shivas icy tits!" he hissed a little as he dug into his bag, pulling out some bandages. "Zack! I'm going to need new pants!"

"Uh, cloud? Not going to use a Cure? It's all glowy and mastered now." he said, pointing at his armlet.

"Not gonna stop 'cause of a Cure, Zack." Cloud said, flushing. "I've…fuck." he grunted as he sat down. "I'm not exactly…promise not to rat me out?" he asked, eyes pleading. Zack could NEVER say no to the puppy face.

"C'mon, spiky. Not gonna tell your dirty secrets to the camp." he said, smiling as he ruffled soft hair. Cloud groaned.

"Better not , Zack." and Zack froze. His voice had gone up at least an octave, and he was folding the bandages into a pad like shape. "turn the fuck around."

Zack spun. His face was fiery as he heard a uniform zipper and rustling, then another zipper. Cloud….he put the pieces together.

"you're a girl." he said, and Cloud sighed, running a hand through his hair agitatedly. He-no, She- nodded in resignation.

"Yeah. I'm a girl. Two X chromosomes and all." he said, and he snorted. "if Shinra had known I'd have been slapped behind a desk faster than a fucking Chocobo around a track. I couldn't live like that." she said, grabbing her sword. Zack just looked at her, stunned.

Then all living hell broke loose. Five Wutaian ninjas leapt from the bushes around them.

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Which led to now. Zack was watching the blond work out against a couple other Soldiers, snarling as one of them tried to get her in a headlock. Zack knew that his little protégé was a slippery brat, and she slammed an elbow into his gut, winding him enough to get free. Zack whooped as her wooden sword knocked the feet out from the other man and she held his own sword at hs throat, hers back at the other.

"Good, Spike!" the man at her feet said as she hauled him up with a boyish laugh, tossign him to his friend to be dusted off.

"Maybe next time you guysll' catch me distracted, yeah?" she said as she tossed his sword to him. "I call the showers!"

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Oh no! now what'll happen? Zack, Reno, and Seph know….what other things could I POSSIBLY do?

Go on, tell me. 'cause I haven't the foggiest! If you have an idea, shout it at me and I'll consider it. 'cause as of now it's looking like blackmail city for me. Meh.

Love you guys tons, keep telling me how I screw up! It's really useful knowing what I can go back and fix. Maybe once it's done I'll go back and fix all amy typos.

PM me if you want to be my beta! I'm looking for someone to fix my grammar faux pas.

Rabid.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a hard battle. Sephiroth watched as the fires died on the swamp fields, the smell of pitch and hair thick in his nose. Soot streaked his face, wiped there as he cast his fireballs. All artillery fire had ceased for now, leaving him with only his thoughts and the moans of dying men.

Was it just yesterday that he and Zack had been playing over the camp, cheered on by a sweet little blonde?

He didn't see so much as feel Zack settle beside him, leaning back into the sword he'd stuck into the earth. He didn't need to see to know the look Zack had on his face, the one that made him look so old. Older than Sephiroth, sometimes. He watched another First class drop to his knees across the battlefield, face grief stricken.

"Why do you fight, Zack?" he asked softly, watching Harper hold the severed head of some trooper. His hands were shaking as he pushed bright hair back from dead eyes.

"You." he said softly, with no hesitation. Sephiroth stiffened, eyes going wide as he moved to turn. Zack was looking at Harper too. He wasn't smiling now. "You, and Cloud, and Kunsel, and anyone else I call friend." with those words, he stood, dusting off his fatigues. "I fight so that at the end of the battle, I can look at all of you and know that the lives I took will keep you safe another day. Because the Company is ruthless, and mindless, and has no conscience. Because what the Company wants us to fight for doesn't really matter."

That puzzled Sephiroth, who looked up at his friend, lit from the east with a fiery glow that had come from one of the other sides masters of materia. He looked…beautiful. Strong. It made Sephiroth want to catch his breath and loose it at the same time.

It was the look of a warrior.

"What maters, Seph…is that we have a family to go home to at the end of the day. Week. Month. Year. And…I fight for you so that I can be your family." he said, holding out a hand. There was a flash of white and gold approaching, and Zack smiled then, slow and sad and knowing. It made Sephiroth almost shed the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

"That…" Sephiroth didn't get to say anymore because Zack had covered his lips with his own, kissing him soft and gentle. Something then uncoiled in his spine and he relaxed, maybe for the first time ever as Zack slowly pulled back, lavender eyes shining in the growing gloom as someone Iced the fire.

He could…maybe live with that.

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Cloud grit her teeth as she stitched another shrapnel wound on the field. The man wasn't Shinra, but she didn't care. The white armband on her uniform authorized her to give medical aid to those that needed it. She saved her materia though for those that needed it.

"There." she said, dousing it in peroxide. "Go home. No fight more." she said in broken wutaian, that made the man ghost out a chuckle. He tried to sit up but hissed as his bandaged ribs protested.

"Why you heal me?" he asked in broken common, and Cloud smiled softly at him, capping her bottle of disinfectant.

"We both People." she said, pressing a pair of dog tags into his hand. "All people deserve life yes?" she asked and he laughed more, rolling upright. "No fight. Go home, watch family." she said and he nodded, using a ruined rifle as a crutch. Then he said something strange.

"Shinra not deserve you." he said, tapping her chest over her heart. "Gold. Make old man see dawn." he said with a smile and she nodded, standing up to move on. He reached over to her, placing a small jade coin in her hand. "Clan of Serpent will welcome Heart of Gold always to come." he said with a soft smile and he bowed deeply, to which Cloud squawked, setting him upright once he got stuck.

"GO!" she said, smiling anyways, hands in the air. "Go happy. Have life." she said at last and he turned, moving off. The next living man she came across was a grunt, his gut sliced open on a bayonet. He was looking at Cloud like she was an alien.

"Why'd you help that man? He's only going to kill more Shinra troops next time." he said, and she frowned, cutting away his jacket. This kid had only been in the field for six months now. And couldn't possibly understand the complex honor system the Wutaian people had.

"I gave him his life." she said in a soft voice as she wiped away blood. "He owes every Shinra trooper their own life now. He won't fight again. He'll go back to his rice crop, and raise his kids. He'll laugh and smile and remember that when I held his life in my hands, that I gave it to him." she said as she worked.

"Stupid." he said, glaring a little. "he'd sooner slit your throat than offer one of us our life." he said, looking at her smoothly working hands, removing debris. He yelped as disinfectant flooded the wound, hissing and bubbling. Cloud smiled, soft and knowing.

"You're still young." she said, getting out her needle. "You don't yet understand why they fight. Next time you're facing off with one of these farmers, ask him." he cried out as the needle pierced his skin, pulling the gaping hole closed. Nothing vital had been punctured, she thanked god. "You might find their answers make a little more sense."

He was finished in half an hour, and she doused the wound in Potion, wrapping it. "A team will be by in a little while to take you back to base." she said as she stood, shouldering her battered medipack. "Keep the wound clean, and maybe if you're lucky they'll send you home."

As she turned to walk away, the boy reached out, grabbing the hem of her pants.

"What's your name?" he asked, and she laughed at that, a soft sound.

"The Wutaian call me the Heart of Gold." she said, nodding to where a wutaian man was bowing to her in respect as he followed his commander. "But my officer calls me Strife." she said, and walked away. Over her shoulder she smiled. "My friends all call me Cloud!"

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Where in the hell did that come from? 'looks at page' wow.

So I KNOW im an idjit for not updating sooner but….my writers block was more like writers Broadway. And I've been working on FB for a while but…yeah. It's just not going where I want it right now. Once I wrestle it into shape we'll be good.

Thank all of you for you kind words and critique! ^^ they make me all warm and fuzzeh inside so…yeah.

Lovels for alla joos.


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